Saudi Arabia, instead of UAE, to host 2018 Arab summit

DEAD SEA — Saudi Arabia will host the upcoming 29th Arab summit instead of the UAE, Adel Al Jubeir, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, said Wednesday.

"Upon a request by the UAE, we agree to host the upcoming Arab summit in Riyadh," the Saudi official said in remarks at the closing of the 28th Arab summit, which was held at the eastern shore of the Dead Sea.

The Arab League Charter gives the rotating presidency of the summit in accordance with the Arabic alphabetical order of member countries. Egypt hosted the event in 2015 and was to be followed by Morocco in April 2016.

Morocco, however, decided not to host last year’s meeting, “to avoid giving a false impression of unity in the Arab world”. 

Mauritania hosted the summit that year and Yemen was supposed to lend a venue to this year’s summit, but it apologised for not being able to, citing the civil war there, before Jordan responded to the Arab League’s request and hosted the high-profile Arab gathering. 

According to the Arabic alphabetical order system, the UAE should come next.